Original Airdate: May 7, 2004

Host:
Evan Farmer

Designer:
Mark Montano

Carpenters:
Jason Cameron
Ali Barone

There's an old but true showbiz saying that goes, "Never work with children and animals." Not because they're difficult to manage, but because they're the biggest scene-stealers in the business. And in this very special edition of WYWO, not only have we the smartest, handsomest, most adorable bunch of 9-year-olds in the entire state of Texas (if not the USA), we've got two of the most popular teachers on the planet, an astronaut and the coolest principal of all time — not to mention the WYWO team. Just how much better can it get!

Fifth-grade teacher Jaynelle Liebrecht applied to While You Were Out in the hope that she could teach her colleague, Derek Springer (that's Miss Liebrecht and Mr Springer to you lot!), a lesson. Jaynelle thinks our design team could help to create a more focused and creative 5th grade classroom for Derek, who's notoriously messy and disorganized. According to Jaynelle, Derek's greatest decorating contribution to date took two men, four hours and four screws, all in the name of hanging a guitar on the wall. As Jaynelle says, Derek needs help — and who better to provide him with a stunning new environment but our very own Mark Montano and team.

Mark's inspiration for the classroom is a given: Derek's dad, Robert Springer, was a Shuttle astronaut, in fact he completed missions on Space Shuttles Discovery and Atlantis. What could be better than to give his son his very own Space Lab Classroom, complete with planets dangling from the ceiling, a custom-made chalk board with custom made chalk, a space-age renovation of the boring old desks and some cool funky prizes that both Derek and the Springer Kids will just love.

So, it's back to school for WYWO but there's never been a lesson like this one. The classroom's huge (the biggest room the team has ever tackled), school's still in session, the carpentry build is massive and Mark wants to build a full-size photo booth. And while this is all happening, Derek's off in Huntsville Alabama with Dad at Space Camp participating in a mock mission among other things. Little does he know the WYWO team, Jaynelle and his entire class have something very special planned for his return. When he walks in through the classroom door, you'll hear the scream in outer space.

Product Information:

Prize 1: Interactive Globe
Donated by: Discovery Channel Store

Prize 2: Telescope
Donated by: Discovery Channel Store

Prize 3: 30 OH Mandarin Chairs
Donated by: Umbra, Inc.